Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—from publishing reports to academic announcements to literary dispatches—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today's stories:
"Novelty was not Steve’s highest value. Beauty was." Novelist Mona Simpson remembers her brother, Steve Jobs. (New York Times)
Unlikely penpals T. S. Eliot and Groucho Marx united over a mutual fascination with each other's "alienness." (More Intelligent Life)
Ireland elects a poet for president. Michael D. Higgins, who sealed his victory on Saturday, is the author of three collections, most recently, An Arid Season (New Island Books, 2004). (Agence France-Presse)
With holidays (and perhaps a new version of its color e-reader) on the way, Barnes and Noble doubles the floorspace devoted to Nook boutiques in forty of its stores, promising book sections won't shrink in the process. (PC Magazine, Melville House)
The Wall Street Journal joins the New York Times and USA Today in publishing e-book sales rankings along with its print best-seller lists. (Boston Globe)
Atria publishes the first "smart book," equipped with a chip that communicates book details to some smartphones. Jacket Copy wonders what this adds to the book-browsing experience.
"Due to absolutely no demand," Steve Martin announces he'll publish a book of his tweets, with all the "garbage" edited out. The comedian and author says all profits from the tome, tentatively titled "The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten," will go to charity. (CNET)
